


Bound by the Heart

by TheGrammarHawk



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Asphyxiation, Canon-Typical Violence, Choking, Curses, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, i had to write this you don't understand if i don't kill hel who will, i've snapped and so has robin, sorta there isn't any real violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 18:24:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17411936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGrammarHawk/pseuds/TheGrammarHawk
Summary: A curse is placed on Alfonse, but his life is not for Hel to take.Takes place during/immediately after FE:Heroes Book III Chapter III.





	Bound by the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> hi i'm sorry but i've snapped big at this latest chapter, this is also inspired by the fe rp community i'm a part of
> 
> i'll destroy hel with my own two hands if i must, i hope you enjoy

_There was a gasp in the night, one figure in the bed shooting up, his breaths rapid from terror. Beside him, his husband awoke, swiftly sitting up to check on the other._

_“Robin - what’s wrong? Another nightmare?”_

_The tactician addressed shook, calming only slightly at the feeling of arms wrapping around him, strong and soothing. Familiar, safe. He was safe._

_“Hah… y… yeah, it… I…”_

_A sob pierced the darkness of the royal quarters, Alfonse pulling his beloved closer, holding him tight._

_“Shh,” he soothed, guiding Robin to lay back down beside him, tucking his head against his chest as he ran his fingers through the white hair, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple, “it was just a dream. It’s okay, I’m right here, you’re right here too. I love you, dear, so breathe with me.”_

_Taking a long, deep breath, Alfonse traced fingers down Robin’s back to get him to breathe along. Slowly but surely, he felt the Plegian respond, the shaking becoming less evident as time went on. The Askran prince spoke nothing else, not complaining about the tears soaking his nightshirt or the way that it was certainly an ungodly hour of the night, much too focused on the man he loved being in such distress._

_“I saw him again.” Those words, few and plain, caught Alfonse’s attention from where they were whispered at his collar. Stilling his ministrations in order to simply hold Robin, he nodded, waiting to see if there would be more._

_“It wasn’t enough for him to corrupt my mind and take control, he… He managed to attain his true form again, and it, it destroyed everything…”_

_Humming softly, knowing that it usually brought comfort to the mage, Alfonse brought him just a little closer, snug in his arms, wrapped in the blankets. “You needn’t worry yourself, remember dear? You’ve proven yourself many times in regards to which of your wills is stronger. Besides, we wed - we’ve bound our hearts to each other, and there is nothing that Grima can do to disrupt it. He is bound to me through our love just as much as he is bound to you through your body. You are mine, and I am yours. You will easily beat him any time he tries to take you as a vessel again. I will always be by your side to help._

_“As for the dragon itself…” Alfonse continued, thankful to sense that Robin had at last stopped crying, for however long, “that’s not possible. According to the book of Awakening, three things are needed for his true form to be unleashed. Right?”_

_“Y… Yes, I think I… remember,” came the muffled whisper, earning a small smile from Alfonse. As a reward, he carefully kissed one of the damp eyelids, smile growing wider at the soft noise of surprise he got._

_“And what are they, love?”_

_More silence. As if cautiously picking his words, Robin pulled back a little, just enough for his brown eyes to meet Alfonse’s gray._

_“The… the Fire Emblem, with all of its gemstones. Without it, the Rite of Awakening cannot be performed. But it’s here, in Askr, in Marth’s hands, so it’s not… out of reach.”_

_“Do you know the other two?”_

_“There… needs to be, in the case of Grima… a large mass of people for him to consume upon reviving. He takes his power from death… and there are so many innocent people in Askr...”_

_“But there’s still one more, isn’t there?”_

_A long silence laced with hesitance followed. Of course this was the one that his beloved had forgotten, Alfonse mused._

_“He needs a vessel - a_ willing _vessel - to be reformed. So long as you do not give into him, he will never come to be. This isn’t your world, Robin. You’re the only Robin that’s here in Askr, and I know that you won’t submit. You can’t hurt us.”_

_The tension leaked from Robin’s form in those few words, a subtle reassurance easing him enough to allow him to relax._

_“You’re right. You’re right, as always, my love. I’m sorry for - for this inane subject being brought up again.”_

_A soft kiss placed upon the Hero’s cheek, Alfonse simply snuggled into the mage, voice low with warmth and sleepy in tone._

_“It’s okay, Robin. So long as I am by your side, I will continue to remind you of my love, and you’ll have a hell of a time trying to get rid of me.”_

***

_“Alfonse!”_

Robin couldn’t usually hear the voices of the Askran siblings when engaged in battle. At first, it had given him anxiety, the idea that he had no idea where his beloved was at any time - but he had gotten used to it, and now the idea that he _could_ hear one of them meant that something _bad_ was happening.

So yeah, you could say that hearing Sharena scream her brother’s name was _not_ what Robin had ever wanted to hear in his life. The battle had just ended, what had gone wrong? He knew he had been distracted - every fight against Hel had that effect on him, the sensation that Grima was stirring, and that he was _angry_. Now that it was over, Robin was surprised to find Grima still restless, lurking at the back of his mind as though ready to pounce.

Immediately, Robin ran to his love’s position, nearly bowling over Commander Anna as a result to get to him. He took his place on one side of him, the other being supported by a very worried looking Sharena. Alfonse wasn’t responsive to his touch and _that_ scared him even more than the dark figure that loomed over them.

“Hahh… Hahh… this feeling…” Alfonse whimpered, the hand Robin hadn’t grabbed in a tight hold moving to clutch at the fabric against his chest. That was incredibly worrying - Robin hovered closer, shifting to help Alfonse move lower to the ground in case he should fall. Luckily, Sharena seemed to understand the motion and helped, as well.

“Breathe, Al, please, with me,” Robin begged, pressing his hand over Alfonse’s own, a kiss gentle against his ear. “Come on, you can do it, just like you show me-”

His words were cut off by a sinister, low voice.

“Your fate cannot be changed. The cohort of the dead has expanded… You are doomed, boy.”

As if he had been struck, Robin’s head shot up, eyes staring with a burning intensity at the person before them. Hel. It was Hel herself. And her words, her words _stung_ , words of _fate_ and _death_ and _doom_ …

Darkness coiled deeper in him.

“You know _nothing_!” Robin snarled suddenly, a deeper hue taking to his brown eyes, the color seeming to morph. “We are not pawns of any scripted fate - I know that better than _anyone_!”

At that, Hel’s eyes narrowed at them, the queen of Hel moving another step closer. All around them skeletal warriors manifested, as if she was showing off her power with the size of her fallen army. There had to be hundreds of them, if they looked closely. They were _severely_ outmatched.

“By the prince’s side - _now_!” Anna shouted, and there was a surge of Heroes to form a protective bubble around Alfonse. Those that had dawdled just in case, purposefully remaining behind in case things got worse - out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Prince Innes and Prince Takumi with their arrows raised, Mist and Genny just behind where he and the Askran royals were, as if they could help stave off the curse. Anna, who was trying her best to shield all of them, was suddenly joined by King Marth and Eliwood, their hands on the hilts of their swords in warning.

Robin wished that it calmed him, seeing his allies like this, but it _didn’t_. How could it when the man he loved was being hexed by this - this _insect_?

The rush in his own chest was getting louder. He was running out of time himself, it seemed.

As if to mock them, the Queen Hel merely rolled her eyes at the meager effort of the Order of Heroes. “Useless. There is no defeating death. There is no escaping death. I am she. Count your days, mortals, and quake in terror. Death is one step behind you. All of you. Always. I will see you again…”

His veins were filled with blood no longer, but fire instead. How _dare_ this _witch_ -

“ _Gah-!_ ”

The sound of Alfonse choking on his own breath was more than enough to alarm Robin back into the moment at hand. The blue-haired prince crumpled forward, both hands now desperately at his breast, a sharp cry of panic from Sharena adding to the horror the Plegian felt.

“ _Nine days._ ”

“Wait - _stop_ , you’re _wrong_!”

Hel had taken a step back, getting closer to her entourage of warriors, when Robin found himself shouting at her. He hadn’t registered ever leaving Alfonse’s side, much less pushing past Anna, Marth, and Eliwood, hadn’t noticed Takumi dropping an arrow in surprise or the gasp from Genny, hearing a little _too_ much of a soft “Robin, _don’t_ -!” from Sharena as he moved. He barely wasted a second to look back at Askr’s princess, the worry in her eyes drowned out significantly by the look of pain and _fear_ in Alfonse’s.

But - it seemed he had gained Hel’s attention. That was all he needed.

“Who are you to question _me_ , child? You’ve no say over who gets to live and who dies before their time. Watch your tongue, I care not what the contract that binds you here says, I will steal you away as well.”

Robin’s eye twitched in a way he knew he did not cause, solidifying his resolve even further. “You can’t - can’t kill Alfonse. Not before his time, he - he _doesn’t belong to you_. He’s not yours to take, he’s - he’s _mine_ , mine alone!”

He was likely looking dreadfully pathetic, but that didn’t stop him. The burning in his chest and eyes was too much to overcome by any self image he had cultured in Askr. He wasn’t about to let someone take away the person he loved most, the one who loved him in return despite all his flaws.

“You’re the whelp he chose to rule Askr beside in a future that will never come to him.” It was no question, but instead a deep, dark observation Hel spoke without blinking an eye. It was weighed down with an unspoken threat, and though it sent a shiver down Robin’s spine, he did not back down.

“You don’t understand,” he started again, “we - our hearts are bound to each other, he is mine in body, mind, soul - you _can’t_ take him from me. He’s _mine_ , and he won’t die for you, not unless you kill me first! So give - give _me_ his curse, Hel!”

The ruler of Hel’s eyes scanned him over: a young man in a heavy cloak, white hair stark against his dark skin, his eyes a mysterious swirl of brown and red. What an amusing stunt it was, going through all of these dramatics just because the boy clearly could not handle his love’s death.

“They say death is a form of mercy,” she began, slowly raising a hand and causing the Heroes to stiffen, “so I shall give you it as you ask, child, if only to stop this pitiful display. Perhaps the heartbreak will kill the prince even faster, when the curse returns to him from your corpse. Ah… or perhaps I’ll simply have you join my ranks, so you can kill him yourself. But to keep you from your annoying chatter… instead of nine days, let this last ninety seconds.”

A gasped _“No!”_ came from behind him, and Robin turned to see a dark violet miasma hurtling at him from Alfonse, the prince sweaty and shaking on the ground, a look of horror on his face as he stared at his foreign beloved, his sister still holding him tightly. He wanted to reach out and reassure him, he did - but the second the smog hit him, everything went dark.

After a brief moment, Robin realized he had fallen immediately to the ground only to be grabbed by Marth, a gentle but sturdy arm around his shoulders as the Hero-King’s face looked at him with worry. Gripping tightly to the shield on his arm in order to support himself better, Robin hoisted himself to a standing position with a fair bit of effort.

He felt just as bad as Alfonse sounded, if not worse. His chest constricted with an intense spasm, all of the air rushing out of his lungs as his heart beat harder, faster, _too much_. It felt as though it would explode out of his ribcage if he wasn’t careful. He could feel his fingers, arms, legs, all tingling, an uncomfortable sensation not at all like magic.

And somewhere, inside him, he could hear a _very_ angry voice that sounded too much like his own _screaming_ at him for his idiocy, for going out of his way to make _him_ do the work-

Marth’s hand at his back, Robin’s own still holding the Fire Emblem tightly, he glanced behind him as much he could, though that wasn’t long. To see the amount of residual pain, the piercing terror in Alfonse’s expression, the heartbreak, it was all too much.

But, for once, Robin knew that this plan couldn’t be carried out by him, alone. Another flash of sharp pain shot down his spine, and his knees gave out, Marth steadying him against the ground again. Panting, he tried to get his vision to focus, staring at the green grass that almost seemed to be withering brown in Hel’s wake.

_“The… the Fire Emblem, with all of its gemstones...”_

The coolness of Marth’s legendary shield rested beneath Robin’s fingertips, offering more support than Marth himself likely knew.

_“...a large mass of people for him to consume upon reviving...”_

All around him, his senses had heightened. He could feel the army of Hel’s soldiers, each and every one ready to fall once more at Hel’s command... _death’s_ command. _His_ command?

 _“He needs a vessel - a_ willing _vessel - to be reformed.”_

“Do you have any last words before you succumb to my will?”

“I su **bmit.** ”

Raising his head to stare at Hel, the queen saw that he had changed: a violent snarl was upon his face, two parallel lines the color of blood dripping like tears from his now entirely scarlet eyes. From them, four more eyes of shimmering crimson blinked open, all six glowing bright with malice. The purple aura warped to something stronger as under his touch, the gemstones of the Fire Emblem began to glow, ground rumbling ominously as he stood back to full height.

“ **You hold no power over me, worm** ,” the tactician spoke slowly, his voice different, more powerful than before. With a single step forward, cracks traced along the ground, the Heroes around them pulling back, tight around the royal siblings, no longer certain of who they were protecting them from. A hole crumbled between the two harbingers of death, and slowly Hel watched as her skeletal soldiers one by one were consumed by it.

“ **I am the breath of ruin… the wings of despair… I am the Fell Dragon,** **_Grima_** **, and you are** **_nothing_ ** **compared to me, wretched queen!** ”

A loud, splintering crackling sound echoed from the hole as a blinding light burst out of it as though lightning had struck up from the ground. A harsh, deafening roar blasted through the surrounding area as the massive form of Grima rose over head, six eyes gleaming menacingly as another roar sounded.

Distantly, Grima was aware of the Order gathering themselves in order to flee the battlefield. He didn’t care, of course, far too _furious_ to consider paying them any attention. To think someone who simply _ruled_ over death thought she was any match for _him_ ? He was the _god_ of death, of destruction, of ruin - she was out of her league! He would _crush_ her for daring to even try stealing away a soul that had been given to _him_.

“You should be _dead_ ,” Hel hissed, for once, her stoic facade failing. “This is not _possible_!”

With a malicious bark of laughter, Grima advanced, his draconic form writhing above them, exhaling expiration at any soldier of the dead who remained.

“ **There is no curse you can down me with, and you have no fang of Naga to make me sleep - you cannot kill** **_me_** **, I am a** **_god_** **!”**

Such was true, the soft thoughts of Robin echoed within Grima’s mind, still present, still aware, even though he did not pilot his body. As he had learned by now, the only one that could kill such a god-like creature was the god itself.

_And Hel was no such god._

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Leave kudos and comments if so! <3
> 
> Instys send me your location I just wanna talk


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